Was someone playing the fool? Or was there a genuine misunderstanding? Media persons invited to attend the Congress party communications department annual winter lunch went fully expecting Rahul Gandhi to be present. It would have been his first official interaction with the Delhi media after taking over as Congress president. And journalists went to the lunch with high expectations.

After lunch was served and some Congress leaders started leaving, it dawned on the media that Rahul Gandhi was not going to come. As usual, Congress leaders were clueless about his whereabouts. Persistent queries from journalists yielded vague replies from senior Congressmen who were obviously in the dark.

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Finally, head of the communications department Randeep Surjewala stepped in to clarify that Rahul was not scheduled to attend. Journalists who were present wondered why this clarification took so long to come. Speculation had gone on for a full hour on whether Rahul would come for the lunch or not before Surjewala cleared the air.

The party really needs to develop quicker response time to situations. It also should make discreet inquiries to identify the mischief makers who created the misunderstanding about Rahul in the first place.

Camaraderie

Supreme Court legal eagles are surprised by the camaraderie between Chief Justice Dipak Mishra and Justice Arun Mishra who is in the eye of the current storm over the Loya case. The CJI allotted the case to Justice Arun Mishra’s bench, ignoring protests from the four senior most judges of the Supreme Court.

The decision surprised SC circles because they say that there was a time when the two Mishras were at loggerheads. In fact, relations between them were so tense that Justice Arun Mishra’s promotion to the Supreme Court was delayed by a couple of years. The talk in SC corridors is that CJI Dipak Mishra was one of the reasons for the delay.

A consequence of the delayed promotion is that Justice Arun Mishra has lost his chance to become CJI. He will have retired by the time his turn comes. Justice Arun Mishra was elevated only in July 2014 after the Modi government assumed office.

Despite the strained relations between them, Justice Arun Mishra has emerged as the CJI’s favourite judge, along with Justice R K Agarwal, for allotting sensitive cases. It seems the powers that be have brokered a truce between the once warring judges.

A Dhumal on Chauhan?
Is Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan going to meet the same fate as the BJP’s CM aspirant during the recent assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh? Dhumal was projected as the CM face but while the BJP swept the state, Dhumal himself lost his seat, many believe because of internal sabotage.

BJP circles are speculating whether a similar denouement awaits Chauhan in MP where polls as due at the end of the year. It seems the BJP leadership has been toying with the idea of replacing Chauhan. There’s no love lost between Chauhan and Narendra Modi and speculation that the MP CM is on his way out has been around for a long time.

However, after their success in pulling the rug from under Dhumal’s feet and preventing him from becoming HP CM, it seems the party top brass is re-strategising on how to handle a thorn in the side like Chauhan. The party may not remove Chauhan before the elections, and like Dhumal, it may allow him to lead the poll campaign as the CM face.

But it is considering appointing a Chauhan rival like Kailash Vijayavarghiya as the state unit president. This would clip Chauhan’s wings and ensure that he doesn’t have a free run during the election in terms of campaign funds, ticket distribution, etc. And then, if Chauhan, like Dhumal, loses his own seat, he would effectively be out of the race for CM should the BJP win the election.

Chauhan is forewarned because of what happened to Dhumal. He is also a wilier politician than Dhumal who possibly had no inkling of the games that were being played behind his back. But can Chauhan stop the forces that are determined to see him out of MP?

Three chits
There was high drama on the day Justice Arun Mishra started hearing the Loya case. As the hearing proceeded, at least three chits landed on the judge’s table.

Interestingly, while Justice Mishra shared the contents of the first chit with the other judge on the bench, Justice M M Shatanagoudar, he kept the other two chits in his pocket, according to those present in court.
It is not known what was written in the chits.

The only hint that the case would be reassigned came when Justice Arun Misra declined to set a date for the next hearing nor did he confirm, when asked, whether he would continue to try the matter. However, contrary to reports in the media, he did not recuse himself from the case.

With his brother judges up in arms, it is clear that the CJI is not taking any more chances with the Loya case. He has decided to hear it himself.